My Account
The proposed subdivision of a large piece of rural land immediately north of Hatfields Beach, alongside SH1, has drawn opposition from nearby residents, who oppose the plan on environmental grounds.
The undulating site, at 203 Weranui Rd, abuts Weranui Rd to the north and Hatfields Beach Recreation Reserve (aka Hatfields Domain) to the south.
The land is considered environmentally sensitive; mature native forest, regenerating native scrub and wetlands cover around 70ha of the site and 60ha of this is deemed a Significant Ecological Area. The balance of the 183 hectares is in pasture.
In addition, most of the land is designated Outstanding Natural Landscape.
The owners of the Chin Hill site, Kauri Orewa Ltd (formerly Oravida Orewa Ltd), applied to re-zone the land from Rural Production and Rural Coastal to Countryside Living under the proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (HM May 4). However, with that decision pending they are applying for resource consent for the subdivision under the existing District Plan provisions.
Hatfields Beach resident Adrienne Cole says she was aware of the subdivision plan after reading the story in Hibiscus Matters in May, but was shocked to receive notification of the resource consent on June 30 as submissions closed on July 11. “It is a substantial document that would have taken some months to prepare, and yet we had just one week to come up with our submissions,” Adrienne says. She says that she, and around 25 residents who support her submission, have been severely disadvantaged by that.
Adrienne says that she has already seen the effects of a nearby subdivision on the Otaneura Stream that flows through the bottom of her garden. She says that she used to hand-feed eels in the stream, but it became silted up after the subdivision was built and the eels have all gone. “There is potential for the stream to recover, but that process could be badly affected by the Chin Hill proposal,” she says.
She says residents know that they are powerless to stop the proposed subdivision, but they want it to be “done properly, with no shortcuts”.
“It has the potential to be a model for rural living, but only if there are suitable protections in place.”
She says that the native birds, skinks and frogs in the area would be completely gone in a few short weeks once domestic cats were introduced, and that the proposed development should be a cat-free zone.
Kauri Orewa’s resource consent application includes 1500sqm of vegetation removal, works within waterways and substantial earthworks to construct access roads and bridges.
The applicant proposes to subdivide the land into 32 rural-residential lots and a residual lot containing the protected areas, planting and roading for access.
The company’s submission to the Unitary Plan panel stated that the ecological values of Chin Hill are under threat from plant and animal pests and stock grazing and that the development proposed could actually enhance the environment because of retention of native bush and replanting certain areas.
However, Shona Myers’ evidence for Auckland Council said that the native planting and other enhancements proposed would be of limited environmental value.
Documents can be read at aucklandcouncil.govt.nz under notified resource consents. The residents’ submission is linked here. [PDF]
